


sweet lady, rotten luck

by arcanesupernova



Series: Always Have Been, Always Will Be - A Series of One-Shots [14]
Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Bad Jokes, F/M, background paulkins, dnd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:47:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25019527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcanesupernova/pseuds/arcanesupernova
Summary: Ted wants to get everyone together to play dnd. Yes, even you Charlotte.
Relationships: Charlotte/Ted (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals)
Series: Always Have Been, Always Will Be - A Series of One-Shots [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2099445
Comments: 5
Kudos: 22





	sweet lady, rotten luck

**Author's Note:**

  * For [okemmelie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/okemmelie/gifts).



> This was a pride month secre Santa gift for my sweet Emmelie!!

Charlotte grabbed her bag, saying good night to Sugars before leaving the house. She headed for the bus stop, trying to ignore the part of her brain telling her that this was a waste of time, that she was an adult now and she didn’t have time to be wasting on games. It wasn’t lost on her that this voice sounded dangerously close to Sam’s. What else was she going to spend the night doing? Getting drunk and ordering off of QVC? There would be more than enough time for that tomorrow night. Ted wanted her to go and Sam wasn't home. She was going. 

Ted had helped her develop her character on her lunch break. She didn’t know much about Dungeons and Dragons aside from the negative media surrounding it when she was a teenager but Ted spoke about it so lovingly, it was hard for her to ignore how fun it sounded. She put together an elf druid character with his help, even though he may have let her fudge her rolls a little bit.

“For such a sweet lady, you sure have some rotten luck,” he’d told her after her third reroll.

“Oh, Ted, I’m going to be no good tonight,” she lamented, sitting her pen down and looking up at him.

“Nah, you’ll be alright,” he assured her, turning the dice slightly with a wink. He wasn’t going to let her be overpowered, but after three consecutive rolls with nothing higher than a three, he knew he needed to take matters into his own hands.

“Oh, Teddy, that’s cheating,” she giggled, batting at him before retreating inwardly again before anyone saw her flirting with him. Ted’s cheeks reddened in response as he cleared his throat and slid the paper back over to her.

“No it's not, you still have to decide where to allocate those rolls, I just helped a little bit, that’s all,” he told her. “Now you’re an elf druid, so you’re going to want to put your highest into wisdom…”

They spent the rest of their break filling out her character sheet and when they finished, they handed it in to Melissa. She had offered to spend her downtime at her desk drawing out their characters in lieu of actual figures. Ted had insisted that if everyone was interested, they could invest in actual figurines but for now, the drawings would do. 

She knocked on Ted’s door, a little too hard and a little too fast, relieved when he greeted her with a smile. He showed her inside and she tried to act as if it wasn’t a layout she knew all too well. Paul, Melissa, Bill and a girl Charlotte didn’t recognize were sitting at a large card table, discussing their characters. Melissa lit up at the sight of Charlotte, hopping up and pulling her into a hug.

“I’m so glad you made it!” she beamed as she pulled away. “I have your drawing over here.” Melissa produced a white sheet of paper from her binder and handed it to Charlotte. The elf looked so much like her but also had an air of regality, something she wasn’t accustomed to seeing in the mirror.

“Oh, Melly, I love it,” Charlotte whimpered, looking up at her with a teary-eyed smile. “It’s perfect.”

“Oh, don’t cry, Char, it’s just a drawing,” Melissa blushed, looking away.

“I know, I know, I just love it so much,” Charlotte told her, wiping her eyes. “This was just so nice of you, it means so much.”

“It’s no problem Charlotte, anytime,” Melissa said before excusing herself and going back to her seat.

“It does look a lot like you,” Ted murmured in her ear. “A very beautiful drawing, indeed.”

“Oh, Teddy, stop,” Charlotte blushed, swatting at him before straightening up.

“It’s true,” he said with a shrug before heading back over to his own seat. He patted the empty seat next to him, offering her an invitation to sit down.

“Ted, how long is this going to take? We have work in the morning,” Paul complained, looking at his watch. Ted shot him a dirty look as he pulled out a large divider to protect his area from the rest of the group.

“Alright everyone, if you would, introduce yourselves and your characters,” he announced, “I am your dungeon master this evening, and I will be guiding you down your perilous path.”

“I’ll go first, I’m Emma, I don’t really belong here but Paul insisted I come because I knew anything about D&D and I helped him create his character,” the woman Charlotte didn’t recognize introduced herself, “My character’s name is Emmaline and she is a gnome rogue who lost her parents at a very young age. She’s chaotic good and she just wants to keep bad things from happening to kids in her village.”

“Alright, thank you, Emma,” Ted nodded, “Glad to have you. Paul?”

“Hey everyone, you already know me but I’m Paul and my character's name is Paulkins. He’s a human fighter because Emma said that would be the easiest for me to start with. He, uh-” Paul looked back down at the sheet in front of him, “-Oh yeah, he’s lawful neutral. He just wants to get through the day and get it over with.”

“Well, Paul, that sounds very familiar,” Ted remarked, turning to Bill, “Alright, Bill, you’re next.”

“Yeah, hi, I’m Bill and my character’s name is Billiard-"

"I'm sorry, did everyone incorporate their names into the names of their characters?" Ted groaned from behind his protective shield. 

"I didn't!" Melissa assured him, raising her hand slightly before looking around at the rest of the group and lowering it, embarrassed. 

"Sorry, Ted, it was just easier," Bill told him, "Anyway, Billiard is a half-elf wizard, true neutral. His daughter was stolen away from him and now he's fighting to get her back." 

"What do you guys think this is? Self projection fun time?" Ted fumed, letting his fists collide with the table with a loud  _ bang _ . "Alright, whatever, thanks Bill. Melissa you're up."

"Hi everyone! My name is Melissa and my character is Myxi and she's a gnome cleric!" Melissa was downright giddy about her character and Charlotte could tell she'd put a lot of thought into her. "She follows the deity Leira and is chaotic neutral. She was scorned in her life and vowed to never let it happen again and pledged her life to Leira to be able to be the one doing the trickery."

"Wow, fantastic. She should be an interesting facet to the team," Ted said, a surprised look on his face. "Charlotte, that leaves you." 

"Uh, okay," Charlotte started nervously, looking over at Ted. He gave her a nod and a soft smile so Charlotte cleared her throat and continued, "My name is Charlotte and my character is called Charlemagne." She paused, throwing Ted a nervous smile. "She's a, uh, lawful good elf druid with a cat familiar named Cane."

"I thought druids were shapeshifters, you could just turn into a cat," Emma suggested. 

"She didn't want to worry with all of that," Ted explained, "We're running a very basic campaign tonight for all the newbies so when we were setting up her character I just let her have a cat familiar."

"Is that okay?" Charlotte asked nervously, looking between Emma and Ted. Ted gave her a quick nod before going back to his charts and Emma gave her a polite smile, letting her to relax back into her seat.

"Alright everyone, roll for initiative."

The campaign started off mostly harmlessly, the group meeting in a local tavern and hearing about a local monster who had been kidnapping children from their beds. The group set off to find and destroy him, not bothering to stop and stock up on supplies despite Emma's insistence.

When they arrived at the cave, they encountered their first fight. A skeleton rumbled of life as they passed by with Paul being grabbed by him immediately. 

"Someone get this thing off of me!" Paul insisted, sweating at the thought of his character dying so early. 

"Paul, roll for strength."

"Seven."

"Yeah, you can't break free. Someone is going to have to get him off of you." 

"Alright, I'll use my bow to try to land a headshot on the skeleton," Emma declared, picking up her d20. Ted nodded and she rolled. "Seventeen."

"You hit him, Paulkins is released. Roll for damage."

"Two, plus one from the enchantment on my bow against the dead."

Ted jotted the hit down, looking at the rest of them for their next move.

"Myxi is going to throw a fireball at him," Melissa announced, referring to her chart and rolling her D20. "Eleven." 

"Oh, the fireball soars toward the skeleton only for him to side step, letting it hit the wall behind him," Ted told her after rolling his dice privately. 

"Goddammit."

"I'd like to try," Charlotte spoke up. "H-He's dead, right? Would a healing spell be effective against him?"

“Give it a try,” Ted grinned from behind his divider.

“Will it work?” Charlotte asked again nervously, “I don’t want to waste my turn if it won’t work.”

“Are you sure you want to waste that spell?” Emma asked hesitantly, “What if someone gets hurt?”

“Oh, I can only use them once?” Charlotte asked, looking between Ted and Emma, “I had no idea, n-nevermind.”

“I-I mean, you could still try if you wanted to,” Emma told her, “I just wanted to make sure you knew.”

“N-No, that’s silly. I should save it to help you guys.”

“It was a good thought!” Ted offered, frowning at Charlotte, “For the record, in most games it wouldn’t be allowed but I’ve always thought it was a smart way to think about it so I’ve always allowed it.”

“Oh, well, I’m happy it would’ve worked then. Uh, what about Entangle? I could trap the monster.”

“You succeed, the skeleton is bound and-” Ted rolled behind the divider “-cannot break free.”

“Good job, Charlotte!” Bill cheered. Charlotte’s cheeks went red and she sunk back into her seat, a shy, proud grin on her face.

“Alright, Bill?”

“I’ll cast Acid Splash at it,” Bill told him, looking down at his notebook, “I don’t think I need to roll for that, do I?”

“No, but-” Ted rolled behind the divider again “-Goddammit, I cannot roll for shit today. Alright, you hit him. Roll a d6 for damage.”

“Two.”

“Alright, it’s still alive and now it takes a turn. The skeleton tries to break free from the Entanglement. Charlotte, roll a saving throw for your spell.”

“Eighteen.”

“Alright, the skeleton is still restrained. Back to the party.”

“Paulkin is going to attack.”

“With?” Ted asked with a grin.

“What do you mean ‘with’?”

“Are you going to punch him in the face?”

“No, I’m going to hit him with my sword, obviously,” Paul shot back at him.

“Right, well, roll for strength.” Paul dropped his dice on the table with a look.

“Twenty, plus two from the sword’s bonuses.”

“How in the hell did you all get such good equipment?” Ted grumbled, rolling his own die.

“Well, you did say to pick something a little better than we could expect so we could get a real first experience,” Bill piped up.

“Ugh.”

“So, did my attack land?”

“ _ Did my attack land? _ Of course it did, roll for damage.”

“Ten.”

“Alright, the things dead, proceed.”

The party ventured into the cave, running across multiple enemies and taking them out with relative ease due to the advanced weapons they carried. Ted’s frustration grew as his dice rolls kept failing, meaning the campaign was almost over.

“You enter the final room of the cave, treasures and gold beyond your wildest imagination laid out before you. Before you can even take a step closer to it, a large winged creature drops down with a high pitched screech. It’s Mothman, the legend from the hills of West Virginia.”

“What in the hell is Mothman doing in… wherever the hell we are?” Paul asked flatly.

“How do you know you’re not in West Virginia?”

“Are we?”

“You are now.”

“Can we get some pepperoni rolls on the way back?” Emma asked.

“What- No, listen, let’s just get this over with,” Ted sighed, “Mothman has the initiative, the rest of you go ahead and roll.”

The party order was Mothman, Bill, Emma, Melissa, Paul and then Charlotte. Mothman attacked Charlotte first, earning Ted a terrified look from her.

“What am I supposed to do against that thing?” she shrieked, looking over her notes like her life actually depended on it.

“Roll a saving throw!” Ted insisted, “He could miss!”

Charlotte rolled her dice, a very sad look coming over her face as she looked back up at Ted. “One.”

“Oh, Charlotte,” Bill said mournfully, resting his hand on her shoulder.

Ted winced, rolling his dice behind the divider. The attack would incapacitate Charlotte’s character, but not kill her. Still, as he looked up at her, guilt turned his stomach. “I’m sorry, Charlotte. Mothman swipes at your character, knocking you back into the wall where you fall unconscious.” He mouthed an apology to her, only to earn a sad smile. 

“It’s okay, you guys will have to avenge me,” she told the rest of her party, sitting back to watch.

Bill and Paul attacked Mothman, while Emma stayed back with ranged attacks and Melissa kept the party safe. It took a couple rounds, with some hefty damage done but the four emerged victorious and Charlotte’s character was easily revived.

“Congratulations, you did it!” Ted cheered for them, his frustration lessened by his better roles in the final boss battle, making for a much more interesting fight.

“That was really fun, Ted,” Bill said, standing up and closing his notebook. “We’ll have to do this again sometime.”

“Oh, for sure,” Emma agreed, “You’re an asshole, but you’re actually a pretty good DM. Color me surprised.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about it,” Ted standing and stretching his back out. He checked his watch, surprised to find it was already well past nine o’clock.

“I guess we’ll be headed out,” Paul said, still irritable with Ted.

“Listen, man, you did a good job, I shouldn’t have been so rude,” Ted apologized when he caught a look from Charlotte. “I was just having some bad rolls.”

“It’s all good man, I’ll see you at work on Monday.”

Paul and Emma left first, Bill and Melissa hanging back to help clean up. Charlotte excused herself to the bathroom until they were gone, not wanting anyone to think anything of it when she didn’t follow them out the door. When the coast was clear, she re-emerged, a small smile playing on her cheeks.

“That really was fun, but did you have to take me out for the final boss battle?” she asked, sitting down on the couch next to him.

“Did you have to have such a bad roll?” he chuckled, wrapping his arm around her. “There’s nothing I could do, do you think I can bring nepotism into the dungeon? I think not.”

“Ugh, I guess,” Charlotte groaned, resting her head on his shoulder, “It just would’ve been fun to be able to finish the campaign with everyone.”

“You survived, didn’t you? That blow could’ve killed you,” Ted said, a sly smile on his face.

Charlotte didn’t respond, instead snuggling into his chest any play with a stray thread sticking out of the couch. “Is it okay if I stay tonight? Sam won’t be home until the morning.”

“You even have to ask?” Ted snorted, craning his neck to look down at her. “You could show up here at one in the morning and you could come in no questions asked.”

“Thanks, Teddy,” she beamed, snuggling in closer. This may not have been her house, but this was her home. She fell asleep thinking about all of the future adventures they could go on.


End file.
